DALLAS (MktNews) - The U.S. economy probably will "barely avoid" a contraction of growth in the first quarter of this year, Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert McTeer said Wednesday.
Addressing a group of businessmen at a local hospital, McTeer followed up on his Tuesday comments that he sees less than a 50% chance that the economy will show negative growth this quarter by saying he expects it to be a close call.
Optimists are more likely to be right than pessimists, he added, when it comes to the U.S. economy.
McTeer also held up a copy of the Fed's latest beige book survey to show the audience, but told the group he would not be able to discuss its contents until the embargo was lifted at 2:00 p.m. EST. "I'm hopeful that I'm going to enjoy this one, because the last beige book was the worst I've ever seen," he said.
The periodic survey of the U.S. economy showed "sluggish to modest" growth in most of the Federal Reserve's 12 districts, with only St. Louis citing "noticeably slower" economic activity.
McTeer later told reporters he sees encouraging signs in Wednesday's beige book. "This beige book is more positive than the last, but the last was really bad," he repeated.
McTeer also said that local Dallas businesses have reported a rise in jobless claims and "that would seem to indicate we're going to see a rise in unemployment."